Improved press for pressing hay, cotton



J. K. HARRIS. PRESS;

Na 33,083.` 1 Patented Aug. 2o; 118.61'.

nel malus P'Ertas co., PHUTQLITHU., WASHINGTON. uy r..

e UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.IoHN K; HARRIS, or ALLENsvILLE, INDIANA.

IMPROVED PRESS FOR PRESSING HAY, COTTON, 800.

- Specification formin'gpartof LettersPateut No. 33,083, datedAugust 20,1861'.

To all whomlitmoty concern.- l

Be it known that I, JOHN K. HARRIS, of

.Allensville, in the county of Switzerlandand State of Indiana, have invented a newl and Improved Press for 'Compressing Hay, Cotton, and other' Articles or Substances for Baling;

and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,' clear, and exact description of the saine,y reference being had -to the Vannexed drawings, making a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure 'l is a side 'sectional view of my invention; Fig. 2, afront view of the same; Fig. 3vis a plan sectional view of the-same;` Fig. 4, a detached perspective View of a part ofthe feed-gate; Fig.' 5, .a detached horizontal section of one of the uprights, taken in the line x w, Fig. 1;- Fig. 6, a detached perspective view of aportion lof the follower and beater; Fig, .7,'ra'detached perspective view-of a-portion'of the driving-pulley and its slide;

' Similar letters of reference indicate'` correspondinglparts in the several figures.

- This invention relates to certain improve-V ments on a press for which Letters Patent were granted to Sam-ucl Hewitt, December 30, 1843. 'The press of 'Hewitts was provided with a beater, so arranged andapplied as to -ll the press-box or compact therein the substance to be pressed, thereby avoiding the necessity of an attendant to fill the box by the comparatively slow process of. trampling.- -The beater of Hewitts press was operatedautomatically,

but simultaneously with the descent of a follower, which was 'actuated by a single screw. This arrangementY is attended with some-dis advantages; Each fall of the beater7 on the loose substance thrown inv at the fillingdoor has to force the successive layers of hay condensed or compacted. by its previous action until it overtakes the lgradually-descending follower, and then the whole mass during the4 pressing operation ispressed back again by the action of the follower, the bale being coinpleted at the top of -the box. This involves unnecessary surface-friction, and in some degree arrests the condensing or compacting power of the beater itself. Experience Vhas also detected anotherserious objection tothe single screw applied to the center of the fol# I lower, andthat is when one end of the bale is compacted a trifle harder' than the'other--a contingency of frequento'ccurrence-fthe followerinclines totilt or bind in the press-box,

or, rather, of the beater, which formed its dis-` v tinctive feature; and to this end I employ two4v screws, and so arrange the beater therewith that it may perform a doublefunction-'to wit, that of a beaterrand of a follower. I also elnploy certainother parts, hereinafter described,

fonthe'purp ose ofautomatically opening' and'- closing thefeeding-door. y

To enable4 those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it..

A represents a horizontal rectangular frame, at one end of which two uprights, B B,Vare placed, the upper ends of which are connected by traverse-bars a a, between which a pulley, C, is placed.

' At the lower part of the uprights B B the press-.box D is placed. This presssboxl may be `formed by securing plank to the front and back sides of the uprights.v

At the lower part of the press-boxD there aredoors E E, one atfthefront and the other at the back side. These doors are connected atfone endto the press-box by hinges a, and the opposite ends,when closed,`are connected by a clamp, F, constructed and arranged in any proper way.

At the upper part of the press-box, at its front side, there is a feed-door, F', ythe lowerV end of, which is connectedby a joint to the press-box. This Vdoor opens and closes on 'guideplates b b, which' retain it in proper position. The door F is retained in a closed state by hooks c c, which are attached by pivots d, one to each upright B, and cat-ch over the top bar or rail, e, of the door.

In the back of the top bar or rail, e, of the door a longitudinal groove is made, in which a rod, j', isfitted. .(See Fig. 4.) This rod has a lever, g, attached to it at one end, said le 2 sense ver being provided with a curved arm, h, which extends upward in front of bar e, and at the opposite end of the rod f there is a similar curved arm, These arms h t, when the door F is closed, are directly underneath the hooks c c.

To thelower end of the lever q a cord, j, is attached. One part ot' this cord extends upward around a pulley, y", and is connected to a lever, k, which is of bent form, and projects inward at the inner side of its bearing or fulcrum, so as to be parallel with its outer part. This lever k is secured to one of the uprights Bat its upper part. The other part of the cord j extends down and passes through a a guide-hole, Z, in the base l of the press-box, and has lits end attached to a bent lever, G, on the horizontal frame A.

In each upright B a vertical slot, m, isniade, as 4shown in Fig. 1, and in each upright a vertical screw-shaft, H, is fitted, the upper parts of the screw-shafts being in the slots m. The screw-shafts project through the base Z of the press-box, and have each a toothed wheel, a, around which an endless chain, l, passes, said chain also passing around a larger toothed wheel, J, which is placed horizontally on the frame A, and has a concentric pulley, K, attached, the periphery of which is grooved to receive a segment-slide, L, to which a rope, M, is attached, said rope passing through a guide in the base Z of the press-box, and eX- tending upward to the top of the uprights, and over the pulley C, and thence downward, the end of the rope being att-ached to a vertical slide bar, N, which is fitted lin the upright o, of a follower, O, which works between the uprights B B, and within the press-box D. (See Fig. 2.) The slide bar Nhas an arm or lever, P, projecting from it aty each side, said levers having their inner endsattached to the bar, N, bya common fulcrum-pin,p The outer ends ot' the levers P P are connected to barsQ Q, which are secured one ineach side ofthe follower by fulcrum-pins q q. (See Fig. 2.) The upper ends of the bars Q have each two laterally-projecting ears, r r, attached, as shown in Fig. 6.

On .each screwshaft H a nut, S, lis fitted. These nuts work in the slots m, and each nut has a recess made in its'inner side to receive a guide-bar, s, said bars being secured to the inner sides of the uprights in line with the slots m, and preventing the nuts from turning therein or bearing against the sides of slots m, under the action of the screw-shafts. (Sec Fig. 5.) y

In the pulley K there is fitted a vertical slide-catch, t, which is allowed to work freely up and down therein. scribed as being in the form of a staple, Ione leg being longer, than the other and projecting below the pulley, while the shorter leg projects d'ownover lthe side ofthe pulley, and acts against aeprojeetion, a', on the slide L of pulley K. (See more particularly Fig. 7 e

U is a stop which 'is attached to the frame This catch may be de A in a radial position. with pulley K, the in'- ner end ofthe stop being not quite in contact with the periphery of pulley K. (See Fig. 3,.)

To the under side of wheel T a pin, v, is attached,` the use of which will be presently shown.

V is a sweep which is attached to pulley K.

The ,operation is as follows: At the co1ninencenlent of the work the nuts S S are at the bottoms of the slots m m in the uprights B B. The draft-annual is attached to the sweep V. and the latter turned in the direction indicated by arrow l, Fig. 3. The pulley K and wheel J are, ot' course, rotated in the saine direction,-

' and the chain l connnunicates motion to the on the pulley K until the long` leg of the catch comes in contact with a project-ion, b, on the frame A, beneath the pulley K, which projec-A tion throws up the catch and releases theprojection n of the slide L from the shorter leg of the catch. When the rope M is wound on the pulley K, the follower O is raised, and when the slide L is released from the catch t, the rope is disconnectedl from the pulley K, and the follower is allowed to fall by its own gravity and drop within the pressbox D. lWhen the 'slide L is released, it travelsaround on the periphery oi' the pulley under the action of the descending follower until arrested by stop U, at which point it isready to be acted upon by the short leg of catch 1,.- Tlius it willbe seen that by a continuous rotation of pulley-r" K the follower O is operated. This follower O, while thus working, performs the function of a beater, and compacts the substance to be pressed within the box D. Each time the follower() nearly reaches its culminating-p oint it strikes the inner arm of lever 7.', and actuates the cord j and draws up and closes the feed-door F, and immediately after each descent of the follower and beater the pin t of the pulley K will strike the bent lever G, 'and the lower part of the cord j will be actuated and the lever g and shaft f turned, so as to cause the bent arms h 'i to throw up the hooks c c and allow the doorfF to drop and open by its own gravity, the substance to be pressed being thrown into the press-box D each time the follower and beater passes above the door. Vhen the press-box D is supplied with arequisite quantity of the material to be compressed, the nuts S 4will have reached an ele-I vated positioniu the slots mm, and the sweep v is then turned in an, opposite direction. Vhen the follower and beater O strike the substance' or material in the box D, the slidebar N,being released from thepull 'of rope M, will by its. own gravity force outward the bars Q. Q, through the medium of the arms or levers P P, and the earsr vof the bars Q, will vpass under the nuts S andfat each side of the bars s. The nuts, as they descend under the reverse motion of the screws, will force down the follower and beater and compress the substan ce in the 'box D, the function of a follower being performed in the latter oper-ation. The substance is compressed `at the bottom Aof the box "D, and the bale removed from the lower part.l

The motion of the pulley K is then reversed, and the operation repeated.

I do not claim the employment or use of a beater in connection with a follower operated by a screw or other device for compressing substances for baling, for such device has'been used; but

I do claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentn l. The follower and beater 0, in connection `with the screws H H and hoisting-rope M, or analogous devices, so arranged andapplied as 'to admit of the follower and beater performing the lling or packing, and also the com- Apressing operation, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The means, substantially as herein shown and described, for operating or opening,` and chain I, in combination with the slidel L, catch f, stop U, and projection bx, for operating,` the screw-shafts H H and rope M, substantially as described.

4. The guide-bars s s, attached to the inner sides of the uprights B B, and fitted in notches or recesses in the inner sides of the-nuts S S, to serve as guides for the latter, and also as guides to the bars Q Q of the'follower, the ears r r of 'which are at each side of the bars s s.

JOHN K.HARRIS.

Witnesses:

JAMES R. FISHER, DANmL K. HARRIS. 

